Currently catch-weight articles, in the strict sense, are articles for which there is a variable relationship between a base unit of measure (“UOM”) and a parallel UOM. As the relationship between the UOMs is unknown, or can vary every time goods movements are recorded, it is necessary to “catch,” i.e., measure, the weight at each recordation. This means that a quantity has to be entered for both the parallel UOM and for the base UOM. This necessitates some form of weighing or measuring before entry. In addition, the fact that the articles could undergo natural shrinkage, such as weight loss during storage, must also be taken into account.
As conversion factors between the base UOM and the parallel UOM are not always fixed, both UOMs have to be updated separately in an inventory management application. The relationships between other alternative UOMs have to be fixed to either the base UOM or the parallel UOM (i.e., pallets (base UOM) to cases (parallel UOM)). Both the base UOM and the parallel UOM can be any UOM and are not restricted to a specific type of UOM (i.e., either UOM can be a volume, or a length, or a weight, etc.).
For certain materials in the Consumer Products (“CP”) industry, there is a distinction between a logistic UOM and a valuation UOM. While the logistic UOM is the deciding UOM for all processes in operative logistics (i.e., in every goods handling process), since the planning for and actual movement of the goods is accomplished using the logistic UOM, the valuation and payment flows take place on the basis of the valuation UOM. These materials occur mainly in businesses where non-standardized products are handled. A standardized product is a good where the conversion factor can be standardized, i.e., fixed, for example, for frozen food or standard packaged food, such as: fresh meat (chicken, beef, pork, etc.); some dairy companies that produce fresh cheese (rounds of cheese, etc.); fish industry; and other selected fresh food companies, such as those for fruits and vegetables.
The relationship between logistic and valuation UOM is variable and the logistic UOM is often expressed as pieces, cases or eaches, while the valuation UOM is often in weight UOMs like kilogram (“KG” or “kg”) or pounds (“LB” or “lb”) are used. In addition, metric UOMs (e.g., length) or volume UOMs might be used as valuation UOMs. Unfortunately, conventional inventory management systems are not capable of dealing with this requirement.
For many materials in the Consumer Products industry, the piece UOM is just as important as the weight UOM. While the piece UOM is the deciding UOM for all processes in operative logistics (that is to say in every goods-handling process, in purchase orders and requests), the valuation and payment flows take place on the basis of the weight UOM. The relationship between the piece UOM and the weight UOM is, however, variable here. The weights, therefore, can vary from piece to piece, either due to biological variations or because of weight loss during transfer and/or storage. This variability should not be lost by using fixed conversion factors, as this would mean that many business processes would be based on incorrect values. If, for example, 100 cases of meat that weigh 950 kg in total are delivered in a goods receipt, the use of a fixed conversion factor of 1:10 would lead to a higher stock quantity in kg than was actually delivered. In a valuation based on kg, the stock value in this example would also be too high.
If kg was used as the base UOM in this example, and the actual quantity of 950 kg was updated, conversion using the fixed conversion factors would lead to a too small number of cases, and rounding errors could also occur. There is an additional problem in the availability check here when the requests are processed in the piece UOM.
For materials with a variable relationship between the UOMs, updating quantities in only one UOM and using fixed conversion factors does not give a definitive display of the actual stocks in each of the different UOMs. Stock control becomes more difficult. Although there are no more cases of meat in the warehouse, for example, quantities can theoretically still be available in kg, as meat and other natural products, such as cheese and fish, lose weight through surface evaporation when stored unpacked. Inventory management only in the weight UOM will always give incorrect quantities. The only reliable stock criterion in this case is the piece UOM. Despite this, the weight UOM is also needed as it is used to value stock, and purchase and sales prices are expressed in monetary UOMs per weight UOM. This is explained in the following example:                100 pieces of cheese with a total weight of 1000 kg (e.g., each piece weighs an average of 1000 kg/100 pieces=10 kg/piece) with a cost price of 5 EUR/kg is put in storage. Two weeks later, the 100 pieces are removed from storage, but only weigh 960 kg. The missing 40-kg evaporated during storage (dependent loss).        
As the management of the material, in the meat industry, for example, has an over-proportional influence on business results, it is very important to have exact inventory management for both the piece UOM and the weight UOM.
The Consumer Products area therefore has the following features desirable for a solution for catch-weight materials:                Stock, stock lists and inventory lists should contain the quantities in the UOMs of piece and weight.        Goods movements should be documented in pieces and weight.        The availability check should be based on the quantity in pieces.        Stock should be treated as zero if quantity in pieces is zero.        Quantities should be printed in piece and weight UOM on delivery notes.        Quantities in pieces and weight should be supported in picking and packing processes.        Quantities should be printed in piece and weight UOM on the goods receipt slip.        It should be possible to enter quantities in purchase orders in piece or weight UOM.        Updating in Financials should to take place in weight UOM.        Goods movements and stocks should be documented in quantities in piece and weight UOM.        
FIG. 1 is a table showing information from a standard purchase order and the related information captured when the goods are received showing the UOMs of catch-weight materials in a typical meat procurement. In FIG. 1, the purchase order information includes an item number 110 for each type of good, an item description 120, an ordered pieces quantity 130 and an ordered weight quantity 140. The equivalent goods receipt information includes an item number 160 for each type of good, an item description 170, a received pieces quantity 180 and a received weight quantity 190. As seen in FIG. 1, although the ordered pieces quantity 130 and the received pieces quantity 180 are equal for both listed goods, the received weight quantity 190 does not equal the ordered weight quantity 140. As a result, in FIG. 1, from an inventory/logistics perspective, the order is complete. However, the same may not be said from a billing/invoicing perspective. Since invoicing is, generally, based on weight in a meat procurement transaction, and the purchase order weight and actual received weight are not equal, a reconciliation of the weight differences between the ordered and actual received weights may need to be performed to ensure accurate invoicing and payment.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an automated method and system to permit the efficient and parallel quantity updating of multiple UOMs information for a single good/item.